According to legend, when Troy fell Aeneas rescued the penates of Troy and carried them to Italy, where eventually they became the penates of Rome.

The penates were the gods of a city, in effect the city's soul. A city could only die when its penates had been captured or destroyed. So in taking the penates to Italy Aeneas had rescued the soul of Troy, and when they became the penates of Rome, Rome became Troy's reincarnation.

Aeneas is mentioned in the Iliad as some kind of company captain in the Trojan army; since Hector is the commander in chief of the Trojan forces, the relation between the two heroes must have been close.

In the Aeneid the ghost of Hector brings Aeneas the penates of Troy to carry to Italy.

The penates were the special gods who guarded a city - its soul. A city only truly died when its penates were destroyed or captured.

Since Aeneas carried Troy's penates to Italy, where they eventually became the penates of Rome, Rome was the reincarnation of Troy.

Both the word "Lares" and the word "Penates" are plural - the Lars and the Penates are two groups of supernatural beings, not two gods.

The Lares (singular Lar) were household gods, geniuses of a certain place which they were supposed to watch over and care for (though some Lares were associated with particular families as a family guardian spirit).

The Penates are also household gods, but are always associated with a particular family rather than a particular place - they are supposed to be the ancestors of the family, watching over them from the afterlife.

During the fall of Troy the ghost of Hector appears to Aeneas and brings him the City penates which he tells Aeneas must be carried to a new city which Aeneas will found in Italy.

The penates were the special gods of a city - the soul of that city - and a city only truly died when its penates were destroyed or captured.

Hector was the Protector of Troy (there is some evidence that Hector means 'bulwark', and Hector's son - Astyanax - is 'lord of the city'). So there is a religious significance that Hector brings Aeneas the soul of Troy to carry to a new city in Italy.

(Astyanax will not survive the fall of Troy, as we discover in Euripides' Trojan Captives).

If Aeneas can escape with the penates Troy can live again in a new city (first Lanuvium, then Alba Longa, and finally Rome). As guardian of Troy Hector will protect its penates, even after his death.